1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical disc drive, and more specifically, to an optical disc drive with a flat cable connected to a tray and a main board, capable of protecting the flat cable and increasing service life of the flat cable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A slim flat cable is used for connecting and transmitting signals and electricity between electronic components on a tray and a main board of a tray-type optical disc drive. The flat cable is loaded and unloaded with the tray, and it needs to bear pushing and folding deformation back and forth for a long time, so that the optical disc drive can operate stably.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an optical disc drive 10 in the prior art. A main board 12 is fixed on a back end of a casing 11, and a tray 13 is disposed inside the tray 13 for supporting a spindle motor 14 to rotate a disc 15. A second board 16 with electronic components is disposed under the tray 13 for serving the spindle motor 14. A bottom of the second board 16 is covered with a metal plate 18 for isolating electromagnetic interference. A flat cable 17 is fixed on a bottom of the casing 11 in a foldable manner. An end of the flat cable 17 is connected to the main board 12, and the other end of the flat cable 17 is connected with a connector 19 of the second board 16. The flat cable 17 is moving in and out of the casing 11 with the tray 13 for providing transmission of electricity and signals between the main board 12 and the second board 16. As the optical disc drive 10 becomes slimmer, a flat cable 17′ is lifted up by a slimmed casing 11′ and is pressed between the slimmed casing 11′ and the metal plate 18. After the tray 13 is moving into the casing 11′, a bent portion 17a at an end of the flat cable 17′ is bent sharply. A crease is easily formed by pressing and folding the flat cable 17′ for a long time, resulting in fracture of the flat cable 17′. Therefore, a slimmed optical disc drive 10 needs to provide more space for the bent portion 17a of the flat cable 17′ to form a curve portion 17b by elasticity of the flat cable 17′, so as to increase a bending angle of the bent portion 17a to prevent the flat cable 17′ from fracturing.
However, when the end of the flat cable 17′ is connected with the connector 19 to form the curve portion 17b, the flat cable 17′ is overbending relative to the connector 19. When the flat cable 17′ is moving in and out of the casing 11′ and moving back and forth between a loose state and a tight state of forming the curve portion 17b, it is easy to fracture the flat cable 17′ after the flat cable 17′ is bent for a long time, so that the flat cable 17′ cannot provide the optical disc drive 10 with stability of operation. Therefore, there are problems to be solved about protecting the flat cable 17′ in the slimmed optical disc drive 10 in the prior art.